New York Times Blog: Belfast Rocks

Although I first saw Snow Patrol play live three years ago when the band opened for U2 in Poland, I didn’t really stand up and take notice until this summer, when I saw them play a festival in Finland. I was blown away by their sound and onstage charisma.

Only a few days later I read that another band from Northern Ireland, Two Door Cinema Club, was releasing the followup to its successful 2010 album “Tourist History.” It got me thinking that there was some interesting stuff happening musically in a place that for so long was seen as something of a musical backwater in the U.K.

General Fiasco — from Bellaghy — released its second album, “Unfaithfully Yours” in July. The lead singer, Owen Strathern, looks a lot like a young version of Echo and the Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch and has an upbeat tenor voice heard on songs like “The Age That You Start Losing Friends.”

In keeping with the 1980s alternative band references, the Wonder Villains — from Londonderry — are a young band for fans of the B-52s to check out. The group’s first official video, “TV,” had its debut in early October.

And Cashier Number 9’s song “Goldstar” hides fairly depressing lyrics among poppy guitar riffs and uplifting harmonica. The music scene in Northern Ireland these days seems as open as the landscape. Read more about the music here.